Slovakia, citing Cologne assaults, vows to keep out Muslims

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico pledged to stop Muslims from entering the country in the wake of the mass sexual assaults in Cologne on New Year’s Eve.

“We don’t want something like what happened in Germany taking place in Slovakia,” Fico said Thursday. He added that his country must “prevent women from being molested in public places.”

Fico told reporters that “once you let migrants in, you can face such problems.”

He said that Slovakia would “never make a voluntary decision that would lead to the formation of a unified Muslim community in Slovakia.”

According to media reports on Thursday, asylum seekers were among the attackers in Cologne. About 90 women reported to police that they had been robbed, threatened or sexually molested during celebrations outside Cologne’s central station by a mob of mostly drunk young men. One woman said she was raped.